The case for Windows Mobile

It's the third most popular mobile OS and is deployed by IT, so it's not subject to consumer trends

That Windows Mobile is "on life support" must come as news to the 7.2 million users of Microsoft's smartphone operating system. While the smartphone OS is in jeopardy, I don't see a situation nearly so dire.

The 7.2 million figure is how many users ComScore found in its October survey. It is an increase from 6.5 million users in July, making Windows Mobile the third most popular smartphone OS, after RIM's BlackBerry and Apple's iPhone. My colleague, Tony Bradley, twists that number to say Windows Mobile is "on life support."

[ Stay up on tech news and reviews from your smartphone at infoworldmobile.com. | Get the best iPhone apps for pros with our business iPhone apps finder. | See which smartphone is right for you in our mobile "deathmatch" calculator. ]

How does being the third most popular smartphone OS equate to being "on life support"? Yes, I know Microsoft's smartphone ambitions have always exceeded its grasp, but number three isn't such a bad position to be in.

Except in Tony's eyes: He says Apple's leap into the No. 2 spot somehow makes Windows Mobile an endangered species.

That might true if Apple's customers were actually would-be Microsoft customers. Yet, in enterprises and businesses of any size, the iPhone is not a serious player. For business customers, the competition is between BlackBerry and Windows Mobile. That Apple now sits between them in total U.S. users doesn't mean terribly much.

I think a key difference, so far, between "enterprise" and "personal" handsets is the presence or absence of a "real" keyboard. That is why, for example, the Palm Pixi is much more interesting as a business device than the Palm Pre, and what also makes the Motorola Droid a potential competitor in the business space.

Tony cites his own decision to hold off on purchasing a Windows Mobile handset as an example of how the delay until late next year for Windows Mobile 7 is killing the platform. He believes other customers will likewise delay purchases pending the next release.

I accept this premise for individual purchasers, but Windows Mobile, according to Microsoft, tends to be a fleet purchase. The boss gives everyone a handset, and periodic replacements and upgrades are the norm.

These customers are more tied to a platform than a specific phone, as well as to the link between the handset and corporate assets, such as e-mail. Plus any custom or standardized business applications that are installed onto the handset.

This is why the BlackBerry -- showing steady growth at 19.3 million users -- is so hard to displace. Windows Mobile usage is up now, was down previously, and appears to be holding steady. BlackBerry rolls like a locomotive.

Windows Mobile's stagnation backs Tony's "life support" argument. However, before looking at the recent ComScore numbers, I'd long ago given Windows Mobile up for dead. I don't routinely follow handset market share -- so, for me, having more than 7 million Windows Mobile users seems like a great customer base to grow from.

There may be rough times before Windows Mobile 7 arrives, but the difference here is that Tony sees the glass as half-empty, where I see half-full. However, I think we'd both agree that a late 2010 release date for Windows Mobile 7 is as late as can possibly be acceptable.

Having said that, business handsets don't need the frequent updates that consumer products demand. Windows Mobile is much like other Microsoft products in that it tends to be an IT purchase, and there are only so many changes IT can or will accept in a given period of time.

If Windows Mobile were a consumer product, I'd put it on the "guarded" list, but as a corporate purchase its condition -- again in medical terminology -- rises to "serious." And that is a quite a distance from life support. Lots of "serious" patients recover, as Windows Mobile may prosper in the future.

 

http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobilize/case-windows-mobile-296

Nexus One vs MyTouch 3G

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErsBnBgwYzg

BEWARE: Malicious banking app on Andoid

Some scarce information had presented it self this weekend about an app that has hit the Android Market that could be malicious. First Tech Credit Union has discovered a group of apps circulating the market made by a user by the name of  “Droid09″. The apps are most likely phishing for account numbers, passwords, or what ever else they can get their greedy little hands on. If you see an app made by the developer named Droid09,  STAY AWAY!

First Tech’s statement;

12.22.09 Rogue Android Smartphone app created
We recently learned that a fraudster developed a rogue Android Smartphone app. It creates a shell of mobile banking apps that tries to gain access to a consumer’s financial information.

Droid09 launched this phishing attack from the Android Marketplace and it’s since been removed. It’s called phishing because scammers go fishing for information about you or your financial account that may be used for identity theft.

Please note that this attack didn’t target First Tech accounts. Accessing your First Tech account from your phone’s web browser is completely secure.

If you did download the Droid09 app, please remove it from your phone and take it to your mobile provider to ensure it’s completely removed.

As a reminder, we don’t currently have an app for the Android phone.

http://www.droiddog.com/android-blog/2010/01/beware-malicious-banking-app-on-andoid/

Iphone Pilot - short demo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1uT4_Y4Pcw

Pilot for the iphone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0Ep0FW4sVQ

Riding The Nexus One Wave, Google Releases The Android 2.1 SDK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the key features of the Nexus One has nothing to do with its hardware. The latest and greatest Android phone also is the first device to come with the new Android 2.1 OS. And while other phones, like the Droid, are going to get it too (likely later this month), for now, if you want to play around with it, you’ll need a Nexus One. Or, starting today, you can also download the Android 2.1 SDK.

As noted on the Android Developers Blog, the team is releasing it before most devices have it so that developers can play around with and build for the new features introduced in 2.1. Though Google calls 2.1 a “minor platform release” over Android 2.0, there are a number of new elements such as voice recognition, live wallpapers, a new launcher, more home screens, and some WebKit changes. Those who have ported it over to the Droid note that the new OS is also faster.

Google also notes that there is a new USB manager available through the SDK Manager that supports the Nexus One. This may or may not be related to the new services that it seems like Google wants to include with the device, such as a new docking station for backing up your data.

You can find the new SDK here.

 

http://www.techcrunch.com/2010/01/11/android-21-sdk/

Nexus One: "Web meets phone"

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6COwgigJ-g

Nexus One and Android 2.1: Apple Better Watch Out

Less than a week ago, Google introduced its own Android phone, the Nexus One. Over the weekend, we got a chance to take the phone through its paces and while we aren't quite ready to give up our iPhone yet, the Nexus One is a formidable challenger. Apple will clearly have to step up its game with the next iPhone if it wants to hold off Android's momentum. In terms of features, the Nexus One is already on par with the iPhone platform and beats it in many areas. When it comes to the overall user experience, the iPhone is still a step ahead of the Android platform, but that could easily change in the near future.

Hardware

For the sake of this review, we won't look at the Nexus One hardware in great detail. Suffice to say, the 1GHz Snapdragon processor makes the phone extremely fast and the 3.7 inch AMOLED screen simply looks gorgeous. While it isn't much bigger than the iPhone's screen, the difference in resolution (800x400) is quite noticeable. We didn't get a chance to formally test the phone's battery life, but unless we made extensive use of the GPS, it easily got through a day's use without needing a recharge.

The phone's five megapixel camera works just as advertised - though the camera app isn't the prettiest app on the phone. Picture quality was generally on par with pictures from the iPhone 3GS, though the built-in LED flash gives the phone an important additional feature that Apple doesn't currently offer.

In the long run, the big difference between the two platforms isn't the hardware but the operating system. After all, the iPhone 3GS is also quite fast and we haven't heard a lot of complaints about the iPhone's screen. Android 2.1 isn't a major step up from version 2.0, but it does introduce some notable new features, including the ability to use voice in every application that brings up the built-in virtual keyboard.

Android 2.1

While the Nexus One isn't an iPhone killer, it's already on par with Apple's phone in many regards. As Google and the developer community that has grown around Android continues to improve the OS, it is only a matter of time before Apple will have to react with an updated version of its iPhone OS.

Here are some of the features that make the Nexus One and Android 2.1 a winner in our opinion. We should note there are some unresolved customer service and hardware issues that have made headlines over the last few days. We didn't experience any of these problems ourselves, but your mileage may vary.

Nexus One and Android 2.1 vs. the iPhone

• Google Navigation: When it was released for Android 2.0, we described Google's own GPS application as the first "killer feature" for Android. Google hasn't really updated this app in 2.1, but it remains one of the signature features for Android. This is also one of the many apps that showcases Android's ability to multitask. On the iPhone, for example, you have to exit the GPS app while you check your email. On an Android phone, the app simply continues to run in the background and continues to give you voice prompts.
• Voice Recognition: We were quite skeptical about this feature at first. Every time Android 2.1 brings up the keyboard, you now have the option to dictate text into the phone. This works surprisingly well and makes writing a quick email or tweet very easy. Some apps, including Google Navigation, can also handle more complex voice commands. On the iPhone, the newly updated Dragon Natural Speaking app works similarly well, but suffers from the fact that it isn't integrated into every application on the phone.
• Multitasking: Other smartphones like the Palm Pre also feature multitasking for third-party apps and handle switching between these apps better than Android. At the same time, though, one of the iPhone Achilles' heels is its inability to run more than one non-Apple app at a time. No such problem with Android, though running a lot of apps in the background can put a lot of strain on the battery.
• Back Button: Besides the volume controls, the iPhone only features one button. The Nexus features quite a few more (back, menu, home, and search, plus a trackball). The back button is likely the most useful of these and works just like your browser's back button. On the iPhone, whenever an app takes you to a browser, the app quits and opens up the browser, leaving you no easy way to get back to the app. On Android phones, you simply click the back button and you're back to where you started.
• Google Voice: If you use Google Voice, you are surely aware of the controversy around getting the Google Voice app on the iPhone. On Android, it's simply a built-in feature and works perfectly. You can even set up the phone to route international calls through Google Voice by default.
• Photo Gallery: Google worked with Cooliris to integrate the company's signature 3D-view of your photos into the Android photo gallery app. This is easily the prettiest and most useful default gallery app we have seen on any phone to date.
• Google Integration: If you are heavily invested in the Google universe, then setting up Android is as easy as it gets. When you first start up the Nexus One (or any other Android phone for that matter), the phone will ask you for your Google Account credentials. Once you enter these, the phone will set up all the Google apps on the phone for you. The phone sets up your email accounts and downloads contacts from Google Contacts. The gallery app connects to Picasa and the calendar connects to Google Calendar.

Areas for Improvement

But there are also some areas where the iPhone is still a clear winner:

• Music: For now, Android's music app doesn't come close to the iPhone's native iPod app. While it's not woefully bad, it also doesn't come close to the design and functionality of the iPhone.
• User Interface: While Android 2.1 looks pretty nice and offers some cool new eye candy like animated wallpapers, Apple is still one step ahead of Google when it comes to the fit and finish of the built-in apps. Also, while we love the back button on the Nexus One, using the menu button isn't very intuitive and quite a few people we showed the phone to struggled to understand its functions.
• App Store: No doubt, Apple's App Store features far more applications than the Android Market. Especially when it comes to games, Apple beats Google hands down.
• OS Updates for Everybody: You can reasonably assume that the iPhone you buy today will be supported with OS updates for the two years of your contract. With Android, you can't be so sure about that. It's still a moving target and quite a few early adopters are still stuck with Android 1.5 because their vendors never updated the phone or because their phones don't feature the necessary hardware to run later versions of the OS.

As we pointed out last week, the Nexus One and Android 2.1 aren't quite ready for the enterprise yet, and Google has to work on the security features of the phone and software before it can become a major player in this market. Google, however, is aware of this and is already working on an enterprise version of the phone.

Verdict

Overall, we were very impressed with the phone's hardware and software. Android 2.1 could still benefit from some design work, but in terms of features and functionality, Android can now easily compete with the iPhone

 

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/nexus_one_and_android_21_the_rww_review.php